Tuesday, March 14, 2006

From WSJ's Daily Fix

Below is an excerpt from the Daily Fix, WSJ's daily sports column. The commentary on Nova guard Allan Ray's eye injury is at some points uncomfortable and at other points amusing...so enjoy. Also, this may be my last post for awhile. I am driving down to south Georgia tomorrow afternoon and will be there for a week and a half. I hope everyone enjoys March Madness, and whatever political controversies may come up while I am gone. And, if the notion strikes you, reread my last post - Will Percy's Mint Julep instructions, gather the necessary ingredients, and imbibe in that delicious concoction.

On Friday night Villanova's Allan Ray suffered a pretty terrifying injury: He got hit in the eye by Pittsburgh's Carl Krauser as the two scrambled for a loose ball, with Mr. Ray's eyeball winding up…well, the worry was that it had been dislodged.

Thankfully, Mr. Ray should be OK. In fact, he's been cleared to practice. (Though he should be forgiven if he'd prefer to spend the rest of his life hiding under a bed.) But his ordeal leads to a basic question, put rather bluntly by Slate's Daniel Engber: "My eyeball just fell out of its socket. What should I do?"

The Fix's reaction would be to immediately try to die, but failing that…well, if you're still around, here goes: "The treatment for globe luxation is pretty simple: Doctors apply some topical painkillers, hold back your lashes, and poke your eyeball into its socket by pressing on the white part with gloved fingers. (In some cases, they'll use a simple tool like a bent paperclip to shoehorn it back into place.)"

If you finished that quote without squealing in terror and drumming your heels on the floor, well, you are made of much tougher stuff than the Fix is.- One more thing - The odds of Oral Roberts beating Memphis on Friday are 5 sextillion to 1. Gene Wojciechowski from ESPN shares some other incredibls odds.